With just 3 days rest since their quarterfinal victory over Costa Rica, the United States Men’s National Team was back in action, this time for a semifinal match v. Guatemala. Guatemala themselves had gotten hear by taking down a good Canada side on penalties, so this hardly was expected to be a walk-in-the-park. To meet the moment, Coach Mauricio Pochettino put out the same lineup from the quarterfinals to face Los Chapines.
The US got off to a fast start. Within just 4 minutes, the US was up 1-0 courtesy of Diego Luna. Malik Tillman took a shot from the top of the box, which the goalkeeper blocked. But Luna reacted first, pouncing off the rebound, taking a touch, and then smashing it into the back of the net.
Ten minutes later, Luna doubled the score. He got played into on the left with a long ball switching the field of play. From there, he cut inside and then took a shot from just outside the box, slotting it directly into the near-post corner.
But if you thought the game was very much done and dusted at that point, you were very much mistaken. Guatemala were by no means passive passengers for this match, and the momentum very much flipped their way after the goal. They had a strategy where they tried to get in behind the US midfield and drive at the US backline. And indeed, there was space for Guatemala to exploit. However, the US was able to sufficiently stifle them such that Guatemala didn’t get a chance in the box until the 26’. They essentially were limited to shots from outside the box that either sailed wide or straight into an American defender, leaving Matt Freese comfortable and unbothered.
But things continued to escalate. The US had their first scare in the 27’, with Guatemala able to play a ball from their left straight to a completely unmarked Rubio Rubin inside the box, and the Guatemalan American made no mistake in putting it in the back of the net. However, the flag went up and video review confirmed that Rubin was well offsides. Minutes later, Rubin was again found inside the box, this time on the right, and forced a first save from Freece.
Then, the US again had to make an emergency intervention, with Freece forced to dash off his line to nudge the ball away enough to keep Guatemala from getting a free one-on-one on goal. In particular, the US had a consistent problem where Guatemala was able to get into space in front of Freeman and Berhalter to cross into the box, straight to Rubin.
Then, finally, the US were able to get an attack into the Guatemalan half. Sebastian Berhalter made a good tackle that brought him into acres of space, enough for him to smash a ball straight to a free Agyeman. From there, the US had a 2-v-2 with Agyeman and Luna in attack… only for Agyeman to misplay a pass behind Luna, completely slowing down the attack. But the US was back in Guatemala’s half and they won a freekick, right outside the box on the left. Berhalter stood up for that one and nailed it right on target, forcing a good save[AI1] .
But Guatemala then went right back on the attack. Guatemala won a corner and turned that into a headed shot on target. Freece could only block the shot, so the US was forced to scramble to clear, only for the flag to come up. But the reprieve was short, with Guatemala again forcing a save from Freece, this time from a shot at the top of the box that mercifully went right at the keeper. The US was very clearly struggling by the closing minutes, with Guatemala able to quickly recover the ball and drive at the US over and over again. Nevertheless, the team managed to make it into halftime without conceding.
Pochettino elected not to make any changes at halftime and, correspondingly, the second half began with more dominance from Guatemala[AI2] . The waves of attack only subsided with a series of fouls committed against the US that slowed the match down. Indeed, it appears that Luna got a yellow card for time wasting and de la Torre one for a professional foul. Then came a change, with Brenden Aaronson coming on for de la Torre. And then, finally, the US got another shot on target, with Agyeman rising to meet a cross from Freeman and forcing the keeper to concede a corner just after the hour mark. And then Aaronson played Agyeman into the goal, but Agyeman couldn’t get around the keeper, hitting the ball off him and out wide to a where the angle was too tight for him to put it into the net. Agyeman again challenged the Guatemalan defense in the 67’, this time using his speed to blaze down the left past one Guatemalan defender and forcing another to make a recovery run and a last-minute tackle.
In the 76’, Pochettino elected to make a double change, taking out Luna and Tyler Adams for Jack McGlynn and John Tolkin. Immediately following the change, the ref gave Freece a yellow for time wasting.
And then, after a lull for a good bit of the second half, Guatemala finally got their goal. Guatemalan American Quimi Ordonez drove at the US defense and, with Chris Richards slow to step up, put the ball in place for Olger Escobar to shot and score.
Following the goal, the US briefly got a little bit of their sense of attacking urgency back, winning a corner that culminated in the keeper making a save. But from there, the US very much went into defensive-lockdown. Max Arfsten and Agyeman came off, replaced by Walker Zimmerman and Damion Downs. Nevertheless, the closing minutes remained nervy. Matt Freese was forced to make a diving save in the first minute of stoppage time.
But then, at long last, the final whistle. United States 2, Guatemala 1.
The US next goes to Houston for the Gold Cup Final where they will face either Mexico or Honduras on July 6th.
